After my urban DH race in Colombia, I packed up and headed to Quito, Ecuador for my next DH event. Upon arrival I was greeted by Jose “Cuervo”, in the early evening, he picked me up in his flat bed and we headed into town for some dinner. There was a whole group of riders waiting for my first appearance in Ecuador at the place we would eat. We sat and exchanged stories over a delicious meal, and discussed the coming weekend’s event. It was nice to have such a great welcoming party for my first visit to Ecuador, thanks everybody.

The Day following my arrival, I was to be a guest of honor at a city press conference regarding the event. I mainly sat back, and did my best to interpret the conversation, until asked a question through my translator. When the conference ended, I indulged in many fine appetizers provided free for the conference, hoisted around by fancy butler-looking fellows. Interviews done, appetite sufficed, we packed up the trucks and headed to the mountain for a first look. The members of LFA and I walked the entire track, laying down miles of course tape, while giving me the local insight to lines down the course.

The jumps, adrenaline and vertigo of speed are the emotions that I live for, and the International Downhill Race “LFA Ilaló 2012″ was sure to satisfy. On the 14th and 15th of January, located at the foot of a volcano, was Ilaló 2012 organized by the Loco Freeride Association (LFA). The event took place outside Quito in the community of La Tola Chica in Ilaló, with the participation of 250 competitors, including 30 international runners from Colombia, Peru, Slovakia and the United States. The setting for this event offered unique features for a safe, fast and technical descent. The city officials had realized, confirmed and recognized Ilaló as an important milestone in the city’s history. The turnout of spectators was shockingly large and inspirational over the weekend.

“It’s the race with seniority, in terms of awards and technical (timing) in South America,” said Diego Hurtado(LFA), who along with Stephen Larrea, Juan Gabriel Andrade and Jose Ricardo Jijon, organized this international event. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have the support of the Government, even though this race is internationally recognized for the level of competition,” said Hurtado, adding that “the conduct of the competition is a personal effort.”

Despite the lack of support, Hurtado and the team of LFA funded about $100,000 in costs to organize the competition. The total prize purse, spread throughout the categories, was over $13k. Not to mention they had just spent $25k on a brand new Tag Hauer professional timing system. The LFA are leading the way in the progression for Ecuador’s downhill scene.

Once the event started, I found myself frustrated with the tough course conditions. The entire previous week, the area was hit with a major rain storm. The more we put in laps of practice, the more we would coax the water out of the hillside. It was like oil, dark sludgy mud seeping out of the ground, even from under the thick layers of tall grass. Conditions mixed with an elevation of 9,000+ feet made it nearly impossible to get a clean run down the hill. After struggling most of the day in practice I made some HS compression adjustments to my Vector HLR rear shock to help with the big hits on course. I instantly became more comfortable and started having more fun on the treacherous course.

Race day was kicked off with a short practice session, before seeding. My plan was, take an easy seeding run and save my energy for finals. I made a couple mistakes and took the run easy, but going over all my lines and pedal sections in preparation for the finals. With it being a seeding run, I waited for the next rider, Polc, to pass just before the pedal section, hopped on his back wheel and paced him towards the finish. Judging his efforts, I felt more confident about the finals and the run I was picturing in my mind. The sun was out, fans were loving it, timing was dialed, marshals in place, and the riders headed to the top, the finals were set.

I got into the gate with :57 on the clock, strapped my gloves, threw on my goggles, took two deep breaths, and watched the clock count down from ten. When the little hand struck and the clock read :03, I snapped out of the gate and started my descent. The top half of the track was the fastest, featuring two big road gaps, and made a good setting for the tempo of my run. I was in one of those rare moments of intensive focus, where everything seems to slow down and you are riding on rails. I was hitting every line perfectly, until I reached the so called, “Cangawa” section. The section saw a tight chicane entrance to a long off camber of hard packed, rock-like, “Cangawa”, covered in creamy peanut butter mud. I entered the section with far too much momentum and never got a chance to slow down. Before I knew it, I watched my back wheel pass me on the left, and suddenly I was thrown to the saturated ground. I got up quickly but was unable to recover the momentum. As I sprinted into the last straight, I knew my chances of taking the win had passed by at the moment I could see my rear wheel passing me by. I charged hard to the finish to pushed my front wheel across the line and into 4th place.

I had a great experience in Ecuador, racing and riding with the locals. I got to experience another beautiful country’s lifestyle, traditions, ethics, food, and so on, all because of mountain biking. Thanks to the LFA and all the Ecuadorians that I met along the way for making my experience so memorable.

- JD Swanguen

Source: John Hauer

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